Can You Make Money Betting on Horse Races?

Betting on horse races is one of the most lucrative businesses today. Especially in a country like the USA where it’s legal. However, for a newcomer, betting on horse races may seem intimidating, and perhaps too risky. But if you are planning to bet on horse races, you must learn how the system works.

Basic Tips for Horse Racing

Before you get into horse racing betting US, here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Everybody who is involved in horse racing has a chance to earn money.
2. You must learn how to gather information on stable owners, jockeys, trainers, and horses and use it to your advantage.
3. You must thoroughly study the form (past horse races) and barrier trials (warm-up rounds).
4. You must ask the right questions about the horses to learn about their stable, pedigree, breed, the price paid for it, health, etc.
5. Now this one is tricky. It might be difficult, but you must learn about the different quirks and requirements of the various horses. For example, is the horse scared of something, does he like running in a particular weather, etc.
6. You must learn about the jockey and trainers. Most of the time, star jockeys prefer to use their own horses. So, keep yourself informed about things like what horses the jockey rode in the past and the reason they changed.

If you look closely at horse races, you’ll observe that horses, stables, trainers, and jockeys have an intensive world of their own. It isn’t going to be easy to learn about all of them very quickly. You should take your time to learn about this world, more so since it’s your money on the line.

Once you have gathered enough information, you can learn about how to place your bets.

Types of Betting

In horse racing, there are different kinds of betting. In the US, however, three main types of betting take place, each with its own rules:

1. Win Bet

This is the simplest type of bet. In betting to win, you are choosing your favorite horse and betting on him to win the race. If the horse loses, you lose your money as well.

• Your odds of winning or losing are equal.
• There’s no backup plan.
• It’s extremely risky, but also exciting.
• Experienced punters should try this.
• Prior knowledge of the form is imperative.

2. Place Bet

In this type of betting, you need to pick a horse that you think may place in the top 2 positions instead of only the first place. To put it simply, the horse that you have chosen has to come first or second in the race.

• More flexibility compared with Win Bet.
• Only available in races with more than 5 runners.
• More opportunities to win.

3. Show Bet

Almost the same as Place Bet, in Show Bet, you get to bet on the top three positions. That is, if your chosen horse comes first, second, or third in the race, you win!

• Greater chances of a win.
• Low odds.
• The payout for your horse finishing in either of the three positions is the same.

There are a host of other types of bets you can play around with once you’re comfortable with the rules.

How Can You Earn Money by Betting on Horses?

Here are the steps to follow on how to win by betting on horse racing.

Step 1. Follow the Form

So, following the form or studying previous horse races is important. There’s a close-knit nexus around the horses, jockeys, and trainers. Knowing every single detail about them can help determine who can win the race. Hence, knowledge is the key factor that shouldn’t be undermined.

Step 2. Get the Right Value for your Choice of Runner

Once you have chosen your runner and you’re ready to make a bet on him, you also need to determine the right value for him. Most punters choose the most popular horses that are likely to win. However, as more people swarm towards one choice, their value drops.

So, if you are late, you might get a very low value for your runner. This negates the purpose of betting as you’ll hardly earn anything.

Step 3. Choose the Right Runner

To find the best runner, you must conduct research. Ask the following questions:

• How many matches were won?
• Does he come from a well-known stable?
• Is he chosen by star jockeys?
• Is he well trained under popular trainers?

Step 4. Be Aware of the Betting Movement

Betting movement is the activity between punters and bookmakers regarding horse races. The betting values of best runners keep changing based on their popularity and demand. If you secure a higher value for your runner and the value drops after a while, that means your choice was popular. So you have great odds of winning a higher bet.

Step 5. Make a Bet

Depending on how confident you are about your runner, you can either make an outright Win Bet or an Each-way Bet. Either way, you have something to lose or gain.

Making money through horse betting is exciting, but it isn’t easy money. You need to put in a lot of work to find the right prices and do the necessary research. Ideally, given the risks involved, only if you are genuinely interested in horse racing should you think about betting on them. But you can also have a little fun by placing some easy bets!